//------------------------------//
// In the Bleak Midwinter... 
// Story: The Polar Express Remastered 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Most of us looked out of the window to see what was going on. Pharynx was standing on the platform and speaking to a boy. From what little I could see of his appearance from where I was sitting, he had light blue skin and dark blue hair with specks of yellow in it.

"Well?" Pharynx asked him. "Are you comin'?"

The boy's response was inaudible, but I could figure out from context he was asking where they were going.

"TO THE NORTH POLE, OF COURSE! THIS IS THE POLAR EXPRESS!"

There was some brief further conversation between them, followed by the conductor walking back to the train and blowing his whistle. The engine sounded its own in response, and the train started to move off. Looks like we'd be running one passenger short, and it seemed the boy had decided not to board.

However, something happened as the train slowly pulled away. The boy seemingly changed his mind and began to run after the train, trying to grab the handle on the rear platform.

"He's trying to get on!" called Silverstream. "Should we tell the conductor?"

Just then, the boy tripped and fell face first into the snow, seemingly unable to get back up again. He was absolutely covered in snow, and as he got up, I could see the despair and hopelessness in his eyes.

It was in that moment I acted. Sitting at the back of the carriage was a large red lever, only for use in emergencies. The lever was, of course, protected by glass, so with the little strength I had I broke said glass, and moved the lever from up to down.

This handle was the emergency brake lever, and the application of this lever brought the brakes on throughout the entire train. There was a loud screeching and groaning from the brake blocks as the train skidded to a stop on the grade outside of Johnstown, but the set succesfully stopped with the rear car, an observation carriage, within the confines of the station platform. I saw the boy scrambling onboard and running into the rear car. At least he'd gotten onboard, or else he'd be waiting a very long time for a train.

I quietly panted, letting the adrenaline fade as it suddenly became clear in my mind what I had just done.

The door at the other end of the car slid open. I turned to see Pharynx standing there, red in the face and seemingly rather annoyed at something. "Who pulled the emergency brake lever?" he demanded.

Cozy pointed over. "She did!"

Pharynx was not happy, to say the least. "Are you trying to prevent us from getting to the North Pole?" he snapped. "In case you have forgotten, tonight is Christmas Eve, and we have a timetable to keep! We're now going to have to waste time resetting the brakes. In case you didn't know, they-"

"Trip the air tanks on all the cars," I mumbled, trembling in fear.

"Exactly," he said. "Now we'll have to make up the lost time later on. If we end up missing it because of this, I'll-"

Sandbar, seemingly having had enough, spoke up. "She pulled the emergency lever so that kid back there could get on!" He pointed through the porthole window on the door, and sure enough the boy could be seen sitting there, all on his own and looking miserable.

Pharynx blinked, and all anger faded in an instant. "My apologies," he said. "Tonight is a rather stressful night, as you can imagine, and there is a lot to get right in a short space of time. We are running on a very tight timetable, and we need to hold it to get there on time!" He checked his pocket watch again. "We can make up the lost time through Montana before we swing north." He walked further on, stuck his head out of the window, and blew a whistle. The engine responded in kind.

A few minutes later we were back on the move, and Cozy Glow turned round to us. "I don't get what he's talking about when he says we'll be late. The clock has been at 23:50 for over an hour now."

"Space is warped and time is bendable," Sandbar replied. "Perception of time can shift, after all."

There was something very odd going on here. This was all far too good to not be a dream. I had to be dreaming! How else would a magic steam engine, time stopping, and all the other stuff have any chance of making sense?

My internal pondering was interrupted when a voice, that of Pharynx, spoke over the intercom from higher up the train. "Are any Polar Express passengers in need of refreshment?"

To say that we needed something to drink after all that excitement was something of an understatement, and the carriage soon filled with cheers at the thought of some liquid sustenance.

The intercom crackled into life again. "I thought so."

At that moment, the doors at the front of the car burst open, and from them emerged a horde of dancing waiters. They squeezed through the door without so much as an inch to spare, with a large machine being pulled behind them. This machine seemed to have large numbers of liquid ports and nozzles, and it was piled high with mugs. The first group of waiters spun round the seating on every other row, so those children were now facing away from the direction of travel, and tables suddenly materialised between us and them. One expertly dispensed tablecloth later, and the tables were ready for a feast, or rather drinks in our case.

Then came the machine. As the waiters fired jets of hot liquid from the machine into the air, they landed in the coffee mugs, which were then expertly sent our way by the other waiters. They landed without spilling a single drop, and without a second thought we went in and drank from the mugs.

After tasting it, I nearly went into sensory overload. It was, put simply, the best tasting cocoa I had ever sampled. Hot, yet very tasty and perfectly mixed within the mug. When we were done, we handed them back to the waiters (although I'm pretty certain I saw Silverstream get served twice), who when everybody was done took the tablecloths with them, and then the tables vanished. As if pushed by an invisible hand, the other seats swung back round, and it was as if nothing had happened as the last of the dancing waiters vanished.

"That was quite the sight!" Sandbar smiled, wiping some traces of chocolate off his face.

"Tell me about it!" I replied, before noticing Silverstream's face. "Is something wrong?"

"You see the kid in the rear car, back there?" Silverstream asked, pointing with her finger. "They didn't serve him anything. He missed out on all the fun, and that simply cannot do!"

"What are you going to do?" I asked, not sure where this was going.

Suddenly, Pharynx materialised. He was incredibly good at suddenly appearing or disappearing. Was he related to Houdini? "Did you say that the kid back there didn't get any refreshment?" he asked, a tone of concern in his normally gruff voice.

"Yes, sir," Silverstream replied. "The rear car wasn't served, I think, so I saved a cup for him so he could join in with the Christmas spirit."

She produced a cup from under her seat. So that was why she'd been served twice! She'd put the cup underneath the chair so that she could take the boy some! That was a nice thing to do.

"Well then, not a moment to lose," said Pharynx. "I'll guide you over the cars to the rear car. It's a bit slippery."

"Cars?" Silverstream asked. "I thought this was the next to last car."

"Penultimate," Cozy Glow corrected her. "It's better English."

"OK, miss clever clogs," Sandbar grunted.

"It's Mistress Glow, as I am not yet 18," Cozy replied. Either she took stuff literally or was just being a smartarse. It was honestly hard to tell with her.

Pharynx payed the situation no attention, and gently escorted Silverstream to the door. "You see, this train sometimes gains and loses cars for no readily obvious reason. Sometimes it's as short as five, and sometimes it's as long as 20! This train loses and gains more coaches than the Atlantic Coast Express!"

As they headed away, I got up to stretch my legs. I have difficulty with sitting still, and have a tendancy to fidget if not given something to do. I walked past Silverstream's seat when I suddenly spotted something that was rather concerning.

"She left her ticket behind!" I said, looking at it.

Cozy took a glance at it. "That could be a problem. If he asks for her ticket and she doesn't have it, he could throw her off at the next stop?"

"Why?" Sandbar asked. "He checked it earlier."

But there was no time to loose. I picket the ticket up and headed for the rear of the train.